After traveling for the majority of the time for the last 9 years now, and spending 5 of those years completely location independent and without a home to come back to, many people are curious about how I decide on where to travel. While it’s often as a result of places that pique my interest after hearing from others, to having people help me decide via my social channels, or complete serendipity and living spontaneously in the moment, it may be helpful to structure your thoughts a bit more.
So each time you want to go traveling and explore somewhere new in the world, understand what you’re trying to get out of it before you start to plan your adventure. This will help to guide and shape where you want to go, for how long, and the details to organize your overall experience. It will also allow time to reflect while you’re traveling, and ensure that you achieve what you set out to, even once you return home.
1. What is your intention(s) for this trip?
- Relaxation and rejuvenation
- Career transformation
- Personal transformation (new out of a relationship, a change in goals, learning about yourself, etc)
- Physical / mental renewal
- Pushing boundaries
- Meeting like-minded leaders
2. How do you want to feel during the experience (there may be more than one answer here)?
- Reflective & find silence
- Release from your daily life
- Connected to others
- Reset & Relax
- Inspired & motivated
- Other
3. Who would you like to travel with?
- Solo
- With my spouse / partner
- With friend (s)
- With family member(s)
- Other
4. What would you like to get out of traveling?
- Authentic Connection
- Learn from others but also have ample time to yourself
- Spend time with people as much as possible (both those you’re traveling with, or those you meet along the way)
- Solo time to reflect and learn more about yourself
5. What is your usual travel style?
- Flexible and spontaneous
- Everything planned please!
- A combination of both
6. There may be times where you’ll feel outside of your comfort zone during your journey, which will allow growth, and not only moments of enjoyment. Think about a time where you were slightly uncomfortable (outside of your comfort zone) and what did you learn about yourself as a result?<
7. What are your core values? Does my upcoming travel reflect my core values?
8. Set your intention and how you want to feel during and after your travels, based on your answers.
Once you have gone through this exercise, you’ll have a much better sense of what you’d like to achieve, and this will help you find what you’re looking for in a trip design.
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